


The Valentine Incident

by SerialObsessor (ibelieveinturtles)



Series: Winter's Future [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's Sister, Darcy has her own AI, F/M, Valentine's Day, WinterShock - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 14:09:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9751502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibelieveinturtles/pseuds/SerialObsessor
Summary: Bucky’s into Valentine’s Day, Darcy isn’t, and Tony sees something he’s not happy about.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChrissiHR](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrissiHR/gifts).



> I wasn’t going to do a Valentine’s fic, cos Valentine’s doesn’t do it for me, but then there was a very amusing conversation in my lounge room Monday night, and then I had Inspiration! whilst in the shower. Enjoy.

**The Valentine Incident.**

 ♡♡♡

 

Bucky Barnes would be the first person to admit that his girlfriend was a down right genius and all round incredible woman. She was the one who pointed out that by announcing her existence as Tony Stark's long lost half sister, the news that the Winter Soldier was about to become a fully fledged Avenger, would become a minor issue compared to the scandal Tony's newly revealed brotherhood would create.

She was right.

She timed it so carefully, that only a few of the most fervent admirers and detractors stuck with the Winter Soldier story, as everyone else was too busy focusing on the Starks, proving once again that a bit of salacious gossip would catch more attention than real news any day. 

Bucky just sat back in stunned admiration before whisking her off to show her exactly how much he appreciated her.

Once the new year rolled over, it was time to get stuck into training, as well as help with the analysis of the data that Darcy's Happy Holidays virus had retrieved. Not long after that there was his first official mission as an Avenger, and then at the beginning of February there was an extended mission as they began the slow process of investigating all the new bases, laboratories, hideouts and safe houses that had been so handily revealed to them.

 

♡♡♡

 

When they finally got back it was the day before Valentine's Day, and after almost two weeks away, Bucky was ready for romance, and went looking for Darcy even before cleaning up. Unfortunately for him, Darcy was of a different opinion.

“What do you mean you haven't planned anything for Valentine’s Day?” he said, leaning against the counter and trying not to let his disappointment show.

“Look, I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk about this before you left, but I don't do Valentine's,” Darcy said as she stirred the pot on the stove. “It's a crass commercialisation of a flimsy tradition based on an obscure saint who didn't even actually have anything to do with love or romance. I refuse to bow to the pressure,” she ended firmly.

“But I like Valentine's Day,” Bucky protested feebly. “I like the flowers and the dinners and the cards and the chocolate. It's romantic.”

“And you're a very romantic person,” Darcy turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, staring seriously into his eyes. “But you don't need to go out and buy me overpriced hothouse roses that don't even smell like proper roses, or a sappy card to show me that you care.”

“And I suppose I should also pick out the biggest box of your favourite chocolates and put them back too?” Bucky asked as he brushed some stray hair off her face. 

“I will never say no to chocolate, but don't get any until the day after - it'll all be half price then,” she said firmly.

“It's not right,” Bucky insisted. “What if I want to get you flowers and a sappy card and take you out for a romantic dinner?”

“I will happily accept all your romantic gestures,” Darcy said reassuringly, “just not on Valentine's Day.” She gave him a quick kiss and then turned back to her pot. “Anyway, I didn't think Valentine's was such a big deal back in Ancient Brooklyn,” she added with a sly smile.

“I always gave my girl something on Valentine's,” he said sulkily. “It's right.”

Darcy sighed again and put the spoon down. Then she turned around to look at her Big Bad boyfriend with his bottom lip stuck out, his arms crossed and his eyes wide open and begging.

“Oh for crying out loud,” she said. “You're ridiculous.”

He just pouted harder.

“Ugh,” Darcy grunted, and then she put her hands on either side of his face and gazed into his eyes. “Okay then, I have an idea. How about, tomorrow we go into town and we'll go look at Valentine's cards together.”

“Really?” Bucky grinned hopefully.

“Yep,” she nodded as she pressed her lips to his.

“We will pick out a card each,” she said sweetly in between gentle kisses, “read them out loud to each other, and then we'll put them back.” 

There was laughter from the door and Darcy released his lips as she pulled herself up on tiptoe to peer over Bucky's shoulder as he half turned to see who it was.

“Man, I think that's the best Valentine's plan I've heard in a long time. You know what, you should go pick out a bunch of roses, let her smell them, and then put them back too,” Sam contributed with a grin.

“Shove it Wilson,” Bucky growled, as Darcy added “Nah, the roses probably won't smell, it's not worth it. All the scent has been bred out of commercial flowers in favour of longevity.”

Bucky sighed and dropped his head into Darcy's shoulder. 

“You,” he said sadly, “are a Valentine Grinch, and I can’t believe that you’d do this to me.” 

“Don't get sucked into the hype,” she said dryly, and gave him a last kiss, before turning back to the stove top. 

“Now get out of here before the dinner burns. Oh, and you need a shower,” she added as an afterthought. 

“Yeah, go get cleaned up,” Sam said as he peered into the fridge. “You're a mess.”

“Well I guess I know when I'm beat,” Bucky sulked again, and after giving Darcy a quick kiss to the back of the neck as she stirred the saucepan some more, left. 

♡

There was silence for a few minutes and then Darcy turned to Sam and mouthed silently, “Is he gone?”

Sam carefully went and looked out in the corridor, and then nodded.

“All clear,” he said. 

“Was that too much?” she asked him.

“The man looks like a kicked puppy,” he said, and then, “You're planning something,” after studying her for a minute.

“Hey, I meant every word I said then,” she sniffed indignantly.

“Doesn't mean you're not planning something,” Sam insisted. “But you know what? I don't wanna know.”

“Good, because even if I was, I wouldn't be telling you,” she said firmly.

Sam shook his head. “I hope you know what you're doing,” he muttered as he grabbed an apple and left. 

 

♡♡♡

 

True to her word, Darcy dragged Bucky into town for Valentine's Day, and they spent much longer than he would have expected doing exactly what she had promised. She pulled him into the first newsagent she found, and pulled a card out from the display. After giving him a quick look at the cover, which was red and had a lot of writing in it, she cleared her throat, she read it out to him.

“ **_Valentine!_ ** ” She started dramatically with one hand over her heart as she read. 

“ _ My  _ **_passionate feelings_ ** _ for you have got the better of me today, so  _ _**be warned** _ _ what I've written in this card is  _ sizzlingly hot _ ,  _ sparingly sexy _ and  _ **_simply smouldering_ ** _ …”  _ she waggled her eyebrows at him as she opened the card and continued reading.  _ “ _ **_Whoops!_ ** _ Looks like it was just  _ **_too hot_ ** _ , you'll have to use your imagination!” _

“Really?” he asked as she put it back and pulled another one out, had a quick look at it, and then handed it to him.

“Yes, really. Your turn, read that to me.”

He stared down at the card. It was covered in different coloured lipstick marks, and had ‘ _ you are wow _ ’ written on the front of it.

“Do I have to?” he asked, looking around self consciously. He wondered what the gossip blogs would have to say if someone caught him doing this.

“Bucky, I’m doing this for you. Now read the card - please?” she pleaded.

“ _ You’re the kind of woman, _ ” he began quietly, “ _ who could make someone hum corny love songs in a crowded elevator. You’re the bubbles in champagne, the sizzle in the afternoon. You’re the reason they invented moonlight. And I get to be with you. Wow. _ ”

“Hmm, not bad,” Darcy said, “Could use some work, but it’s not too sappy. Okay, next one.”

She pulled another one out and started reading it. “ _ We go together like chips and guacamole, or noodles and sriracha sauce! _ ” She flipped it open and grinned. “ _ Great. Now I’m hungry. _ ”

She put the card back and wandered along to the next display. “Your turn again, you pick this time.”

He sighed and grabbed a card at random. “ _ Roses are red, violets are blue, love never crossed my mind until the day I met you. _ ”

“Aww, you’re so sweet,” Darcy grinned at him as he put the card back, and picked out another one.

“How about this one?” he showed her the cover of two cartoon pandas holding hands. “ _ Girlfriend, you’re the beary best, _ ” he flipped it open, “ _ thank you for bringing happiness and love to my life. _ ”

“I like the cover, but the message is pretty boring,” Darcy said as she chose another one. 

They continued to read Valentine's cards to each other for nearly an hour - sappy ones, corny ones, romantic ones, humorous and sweet ones, (and Bucky even managed to find some dirty ones in a specialty shop they wandered into) - and then she decided that she’d let him buy her a coffee, as long as he told the barista that they weren’t allowed to draw anything even remotely heart shaped or Valentine related on the foam.

After wandering around with Darcy tucked up against his side for the better part of the morning, Bucky came to the conclusion that even if it wasn’t the kind of Valentine’s he would have planned, it was still good to just spend some time with his girl, doing vaguely romantic things. He’d take what he could get, and be happy with it.

“That was fun,” Darcy said as they drove home. “Thank you for humouring me, I really appreciate it.”

“I enjoyed it,” Bucky admitted. “That was actually a lot of fun.”

“We should make it a tradition,” she said happily.

He glanced at her and smiled. “Yeah, I think that's a tradition I could live with. Do you have to go back to work now, or do you have the rest of the day off as well?” he asked hopefully as they drove into the compound.

“I have to go back,” she sent him an apologetic look. “At the very least I have to make sure Jane’s not building another random machine, and she promised Thor she’d finish early today. Now I just have to make sure it happens.”

“Well I guess I'll have to find my own thing to do then,” he said. “I’ll see you for dinner?”

“Sounds good. I’ll text you when I’m ready, okay?”

He walked her to the lab, and after a swift kiss goodbye, decided he may as well make some inroads on his mission report before Maria Hill started stalking him for it.

 

♡♡♡

 

Bucky had done a good chunk of his report, and was just about to head to the cafeteria for dinner when he got a text from Darcy asking him to meet her in her room. 

When he arrived he was surprised to see that there had set up a small table in the middle of her room, decorated with paper hearts in red and silver, and set with hot pink paper plates, cups and pink plastic cutlery. There was also a bunch of plastic roses in a vase balanced on top of the dresser.

“Surprise!” Darcy sang out, and he just stood and stared. 

"What’s this?” he asked.

“So I kind of felt a bit bad after you left yesterday, and then Sam agreed that maybe I was a bit much,” she held her hand up, squinting through fingers held bare millimetres apart, ”so-”

“Is that cake?” he interrupted her as he realised what the main centrepiece of the table was.

“Yeah. I didn't really have to work this afternoon,” she admitted with a coy look. “I baked for you instead.”

She picked up the plate of cupcakes  and held it out to him - they were covered in big swirls of something white and creamy, and there was a chocolate love heart stuck on the top of each one.

“I figured maybe I could give a little on the whole Valentine's Day thing, just for you,” she said quietly.

He leaned against the door and grinned at her.

“You did this for me?”

“Uhuh.”

“Even though you don’t do Valentine’s?” he continued.

“Bucky!”

“So, you know what my favourite thing about Valentine’s Day used to be?” he asked in a low voice as he pushed off the door and stalked his way towards her.

“Oh I think I have a pretty good idea,” she purred at him, dumping the plate of cakes on the table, and sliding her hands up his arms.

♡

They were so busy kissing each other that they didn’t notice when the door opened and Tony walked in as if he owned the place.

“Hey Darcy, have you - what… what are you doing? Get off my sister!”

After that, everything happened very quickly, and it ended with Bucky on the floor dripping blood from his nose, Tony leaning against the door with blood dripping from his hand and lip and Darcy standing in front of Bucky as if she could turn herself into a Tony-proof barrier.

“Jesus shit Tony, what did you do that for? What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“What do you think you're doing? Why did he have his hands all over you?” Tony asked in a horrified voice.

“None of your damn business.”

“Ah, yes my business, he killed our father!”

“Oh my god, I thought we’d gotten past this - why are you even here? You're supposed to be with Pepper, she promised me she'd keep you distracted today,” Darcy moaned.

“Wait, Pepper knows about this? You told Pepper but you didn't tell me?”

“I didn't have to worry about Pepper trying to kill him again!” Darcy countered angrily.

“Darce-” Bucky was standing up behind her now.

“You know about that?” Tony took a step back.

“Yes, I know about that, Bucky told me,” she snapped back.

“Darcy-” Bucky tried again.

“Which brings me back to what the hell is going on here?” Tony asked indignantly.

Darcy sighed, “We’re dating Tony, he’s my boyfriend.”

Tony puffed up and stepped forward again. 

“Boyfriend?! This is your boyfriend?”

“Yes, we’ve been dating since Christmas,” Darcy said firmly as she stood her ground.

Tony stared at her for a moment, glanced at Bucky, and then looked back at Darcy.

“Okay, I’m leaving, this is… you could have told me you know. You could have told me.”

Darcy watched in disappointment as her brother left, a hand coming up to cover Bucky's as he wrapped an arm around her.

“Well that could’ve gone worse,” he said mildly.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she twisted around to look at him.

“I’m fine, it’ll heal up in no time. How are you?”

“Ugh, I’ll be okay.” She sighed. “Maybe he’s right, I probably should have told him sooner.”

“I’m pretty sure I told you that a couple of times too,” Bucky said, although there was not a hint of ‘I told you so’ in his voice.

Darcy sighed again, and then turned around in his arms. “I was going to,” she said tiredly, “I was just waiting for the right moment you know?”

“Somehow I don’t think there would be a right moment Darce, but that… that was definitely a wrong moment.” Bucky smoothed over her hair with his other hand, and pulled her in tighter. “Do you wanna go look for him?”

Darcy shook her head. “No, he needs time to cool down. Shit, I should warn Pepper.”

She pulled out of his arms and picked her phone up. “You should go clean up,” she said over her shoulder as she dialled.

When he came back out of the tiny bathroom Darcy was picking up the scattered contents of the table and setting the room back to rights. 

“Pepper said they were heading back to New York, she’ll try and talk him round, but we both agree, it’s probably just gonna be a matter of waiting it out,” she said dejectedly.

“Try and call him tomorrow anyway,” Bucky suggested. “At least he’ll know that you’re willing to talk that way.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Shit, I screwed up didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did, but you know what?” Bucky sat on the bed and watched as she managed to salvage a couple of the cakes that had not only stayed on the plate, but had also stayed upright.

“What?” she asked as she placed the plate on the table.

“You can learn from this, and maybe give Tony the benefit of the doubt, and the opportunity to not be completely blindsided next time you’ve got something big to tell him,” Bucky said gently, and as Darcy climbed up and sat on the bed next to him, the thought of triplets was front and center in his brain. He pulled his girl closer to him, pressing a kiss on top of her head, and wondered exactly how Tony would react when they dropped that bombshell on him sometime later in the year.

 

♡♡♡

 

**Author's Note:**

> I actually took photos of some cards while I did my shopping yesterday, so the cards they're reading to each other are real cards, except for the roses are red one. Also, apparently scientists have isolated the gene that gives roses their scent, so that they can start breeding scent back into commercial roses!


End file.
